Cyclists ride in support of school built in memory of former Campion School pupil Gilly Mundy

Cyclists have again raised money for a school in India set up in memory of a Leamington man’s son.

The Buwan Kothi International Trust (BKIT) Charity Cycle Ride has taken place every year since 2007 to support the Gilly Mundy Memorial Community School in rural Haryana, which was opened by his father and former Leamington mayor Cllr Mota Singh in 2008.

Gilly Mundy at the Leamington Peace Festival in 2006. Courtesy of gillymundy.blogspot.com

Among the cyclists who completed the 26-mile ride around the Warwickshire countryside - starting and finishing at the Pump Room Garden in Leamington - was Gilly’s close friend and fellow activist Alex Rees.

He said: “Undertaking the challenge of the 26-mile ride was an accomplishment for my family, we were quite proud that we broke the record of doing the ride in the slowest time but had a great family adventure in the process.

“My son Mayan was born the year that Gilly and his wife Debbie married, he rode in a child bike seat on the first BKIT ride in 2007.

“To have therefore witnessed him completing the ride is a poignant moment, in observing the movement of time, how beautiful friends may have been lost but that time has allowed visions to manifest and more lives to be touched.

“We hope to join the BKIT riders for many more great rides.”

Gilly set up BKIT soon after his wedding in his family’s village in the poor Harayana region in 2005.

The former Campion School pupil, who was known for his work with the family of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence, died of a brain haemorrhage on March 17, 2007, aged 36.

Gilly’s family decided to build the school near the village in his memory and it has thrived since.